Ashley's Wedding Quilt

If you're tired of me starting off my blog posts with "another niece needed a wedding quilt" I'll just say instead that Emily's and Paige's cousin, Ashley, needed a wedding quilt.  Yes, that would be my niece.  Another niece.  I have a lot of them.  

I'm still trying to use up those batiks, so this time I chose the "Bella" pattern by Timeless Treasures.  

The stars really added a lot of interest to an otherwise simple pattern.

Another interesting part of the process was sewing the first two columns on upside down .....

.....then ripping them off and putting them back on right side up.

Can you see the difference?  Please tell me you can see the difference!  I would have never experienced another peaceful night's sleep if I hadn't corrected it.  Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but .....

Either way, this beautiful bride loves it .....

..... and that's all that matters.

Linking up with So Scrappy and Oh Scrap!

[wedding photo credit Rachel Turner Photography]

August Goal Met -- Chance's Baby Quilt!

I am so happy to have completed my goal for this month.  It was for a precious little guy - our newest great-nephew, Chance.  It was fun to sit and hand quilt the first few weeks of August as I worked on this special gift.   I did some basic outlining in the blocks, a diagonal grid in the center, piano keys in the outer border, and some wavy lines in the small yellow border to give it a little interest.  

It finished at 41" by 43" - large enough to be used into the toddler years.

My friend Penny made a sweet (and very fitting!) label for me.  She sure does nice work!

The new mother, our beautiful niece Ashley, was surprised when the mail was delivered a few days ago.

She put it to good use right away, and I think young Chance approves!

I'm linking up with Fiber of All Sorts for their ALYoF August Finishes Party. 

Ashley's Quilt

I really believe that each quilt I make is special, but every once in a while I am involved in the creation of a quilt that is incredibly so.  Such is the case with Ashley's Quilt. 
When my brother lost his wife in 1999 he gave me all of her sewing things.  Among them was an embroidered quilt top.  You know the kind -- big flowers splashed across a very thin white top with little blue dots for quilting lines.

I didn't know it at the time, but not only had my sister-in-law Debbie worked on this embroidered top, my brother Ronnie had, too, along with their children, Jason and Cathy.   Cathy was no longer living at the time Ashley was born in 1983, so two of the four people who worked on this project were already gone.
  
I decided to somehow figure out a way to cut up this top and make two quilts from it -- one for Ashley since she was getting married soon, and one for her older brother, Jason.  (You know I love a challenge.)


Even though I only had a very rough plan in mind, I went to work cutting up the original top into pieces I thought I could work with.  Then I got input from a lot of quilty friends.  (Always a good idea!)

This project had its obstacles.  The fabric in the original top was so thin I could actually read through it, so it had to be lined.  Then I faced design issues because I wanted to have enough of the original left for a second quilt.  And last, you cannot just cut through embroidery.  The thread has to be picked out, threaded through a needle and knotted.  Ahhh, but it was worth it.

Ashley was married a few months ago, so I went by her house last week to present her with her gift. 

I think 

she likes it.

So now all I have left of the original quilt top is a stack of 9" squares from which I hope to create a second quilt that is every bit as special.  

Nothing like committing myself to another big project, is there?